"He's a handsome young fellow, isn't he?" Aden jokes, trying to calm himself down from looking at the familiar figure. But amidst his facade of amusement, inside he could not comprehend how awful he felt.

The prince looks like someone he knows...he just can't point out who.

Blond hair. Green eyes. A grin similar to his...wait. Oh my goodness, he thinks that he needs to vomit.

Aden, with a restless beating heart, staggers to stand in front of a broken mirror. With the right sleeve of his coat he rubs the dirt away from the mirror to see a clearer image of himself. He gives himself time to examine his own facial features.

"No way..." He utters in disbelief, "Is this like the Prince and the Pauper story that Mother Teal used to read to us before going to bed?" He looks at the prince on the portrait again and then back to himself. "Or..." He then gasps in realization and moves away from the mirror.

"Was my mother perhaps related to the queen or king in some way? His or her cousin? Or sister? That must be why I have similar features with the prince!"

It baffled Aden to think that a nobody like him would have the same features as the prince.

"Or maybe," he continued, "since I lived here and was almost the same age as the prince...we must have been friends." He turns to the portrait again and goes closer to it with an arm stretched out to touch the painting, "and we must have really grew up together. I remember that Mother Teal used to tell me that when you grow up with someone so close," I wipe more of the dirt away on the prince's face, "you get the same features."

He turns to face the vast ballroom once again and starts to descend down the stairway slowly. Holding onto the railings, he studies the room he is in once again. Upon descending down the last step, he basks in the ambience of the ballroom. "But why does everything here feel and seem so...familiar?"

Aden continues to look at the paintings that adorned the walls and the ceiling of the ballroom. "Dancing bears?" He whispers to himself as he faces a portrait of polar bears skating on ice. Then like as if the memory was at the back of his mind, he faces up and grins. "Painted wings," he sighs as right on top of the portrait are painted angels playing with each other as their wings are painted with different colors from peach to silver. "These are things I almost remember..." Aden laughs softly as he feels a certain memory rushing into his mind that he can't seem to erase.

And Aden could not believe if it was just his imagination or that music started to play and the soft melody filled the ballroom - such familiar music filled his ears and he started to move, like as if he knew the steps to that song by heart. He closes his eyes as he goes to the center of the ballroom.

And one, two, three and one, two, three...

Aden found himself dancing the waltz like as if he has been trained ever since to perfect such an art of doing so. As he opens his eyes it was like as if he was transported to a different time wherein the ballroom had color and the chandeliers were lit with the finest colors out there.

Just like horses prancing through a silver storm, the figures around Aden were dancing gracefully and with such regality. Ballgowns of different colors and dress gowns of the finest kinds of fabric adorned each man and woman in the room. Clearly all of them were of royal blood...and what about Aden?

Well Aden found himself wearing a dress gown similar in style with the other royal men with him. A woman nears him and he takes her hand to place a kiss on it before bringing her closer to be his partner for the dance.

They both dance together in the sea of people also enjoying their time as they twirl and move along with the other couples dancing to the same song. Their dancing ends with the will of the woman as she stops and curtsies at him. Aden bows at the woman at the same time then she thanks him for his time and walks away.

To have danced with a pretty woman, Aden could not believe it. Although he thinks that he will never see him again, there is no trace of regret left in his heart. He looked everywhere as he was left in the middle- everything happening so close yet so far, they may have not been far away but he has this feeling that this happened long ago.

"Are these things that my heart used to know?" He whispers to himself, "Are these things it yearns to remember?" Aden could feel that it is pulling him toward something...but toward what?

Then just like the parting of the Red Sea that Mother Teal used to tell to the kids in the orphanage, the sea of people separate to give way to a debonairly man and elegant woman as they both walk past the people. One by one, they bow or curtsy as the couple passes by them. Aden stays frozen in place as the couple walks toward him with wide smiles on their faces. Both of them each wear a crown, for the woman a crown made only for a queen and the man for a king. People were staring at Aden for not showing common courtesy to the royals but the couple beats him to the gesture by bowing at him.

"Oh my," the queen says as she closes her eyes for a moment and sways with the music being played in the ballroom, "the three of us love this song so much, my dears."

"Yes, we do," the king agrees with her before looking at Aden, "Because it is a song that someone sings..."

"Once upon a December," Aden finishes clearly in a daze and wondering how he could remember such a song. Just saying the words were overwhelming...he felt like they meant much more to him - like a certain connection.

"Why, you are right, Ad-"

"HEY!!!" Someone shouts so loud that in a flash, everything and everyone in Aden's line of sight disappears. The lights that illuminated the ballroom are gone, the men and women in lavish attires disappear - even the king and queen, the song that was also being played stops. Aden gasps as he's transported back to the dark, dreary and dusty ballroom. He is back to wearing his ragged clothes instead of the posh dress gown he was in moments ago.

He turns to the direction of where the voice came from and sees a young woman and a somewhat elderly man running to him. "What the hell are you doing here?!" The woman shouts as she runs closer to him, the man behind her started to pant heavily as he tries to catch up with her pace of running. "Ah, Russia..." The man swears under his breath, "Marinette, slow down!"

Oh no! Aden starts to run away from the two strangers. He runs up the steps of the grand staircase and just as he reaches the top, the young woman shouts as she also reaches the the topmost stair, "Stop right there or I'll have you arrested!"

Immediately Aden stops in fear of what the woman said. He can't get arrested because he has no money and he was in search of finding his parents. Oh my God, what do I do? Accepting his defeat, Aden slowly turns to look at the two strangers who have stopped running. The young woman was clearly glaring at him.

"What in the world is a scum, like you, doing...here." The young woman trails off as she stares right at Aden.

------------

"No way..." Marinette utters in disbelief as she stares at the strange man in front of her, and she would continuously dart her eyes at the painting of the young prince of Russia and the man in front of her. Their similar features were uncanny. "N-Nino," she stutters, "tell me you see what I'm seeing."

"Sweet mother of Russia..." Nino gasps out loud. He too can see what Marinette could not believe what she was seeing.

"Have...have I done something wrong?" The young man stammers, "I-I don't have money with me and I'm not from here...please let me go," he says in a small voice.

Marinette pulls Nino down by his ear and eagerly whispers at it, "Nino, do you see what I see?! He's our ticket out of Russia! He looks just like the prince! If we could train him and take him to Paris with us, we could get the reward money we want!"

"Well then how are we going to do so, Marinette?" Nino whispers back. "I bet he knows who we are! Lying thieves!"

"No, you imbecile!" She tugs at his ear again, "Look at him!" And the both of them quickly glance at the young man in front of them again, "He's scared! Clearly he is not from here."

Nino grunts. "You better pull this off, Marinette," He warns her. Marinette smirks at him reassuringly before pushing him away and fixing herself to look more 'presentable' in front of the man who might fortunately be their ticket to becoming rich.

"Greetings..." Marinette starts with a wide smile, "chosen one."

"Oh, God." Nino rolls his eyes. "What a way to start a conversation. Absolutely brilliant, Mari," he mutters.

"Relax, sweet cheeks," Marinette utters through gritted teeth. She turns back to the young man, "You're not from here, aren't you?"

The young man just stares at her cautiously and Marinette had to hold herself from rolling her eyes at him. Am I really that scary??, she thought.

"Okay, first of all, I would like to extend my deepest and most sincere apologies," she continues. "I was just kidding with having you arrested...we actually work for the police," she says, emphatically gesturing between her and Nino. On the other hand, Nino nods and adds, "We help people, and fight thieves and con-artists!"

Marinette tries to hide her glare towards Nino from the poor, innocent man in front of them. "Did you say thieves and con-artists...like us?" She whispers in a sneer.

"Deal with it," Nino whispers back. "It's too late to turn back if you haven't noticed by now!"

"We work in the human resources department," Marinette announces. "We help people find their way home too." Marinette could see that what she said must have caused a stir in the young man - he immediately looked at her in surprise as she said the words. "And you seem lost..." She continues, "we can help you find whatever you are looking for."

"...Really?" The young man whispers.

"Yes," Marinette replies, showing off a wide grin. Oh this is all too easy. "I'm Mari and the man with me is Nino. May I ask who you are?"

"My name is...Ad," the young man says, clearly hesitating with the last word.

"Are you sure?" Marinette inquires, taking a step closer to him.

The young man clears his throat and speaks with more dignity and conviction, "My name is Ad and I am here to look for my parents." He sighs heavily, "I may feel dumb for trusting you right away, but if what you said was true then who am I to not believe you?"

"That did not take too long," Nino murmurs under his breath. He yelps in pain as Marinette steps on his foot in order for him to shut his mouth.

"And what else should we know about your...predicament?" Marinette continues, finding the right word to Ad's...impossibly possible situation.

"Well...I believe that my parents - my mother, to be more specific, worked here...with the royal family. And I want to find her."

"You seem to have really lost touch with her. Can you describe what she looks like?" Marinette asks.

"Um...that's the thing," Ad starts off uneasily, "I seem to have lost a lot of my memories...maybe most for the first 10 or 11 years of my life. I don't have any memory of a woman's face at all. B-But I have this!" Ad swiftly brings out the brooch in his bag and shows it to Mari and Nino who peer inquisitively at the object in his hand. "I was told that this brooch was to be worn by every woman servant in the palace before. I am positive that this is my mother's."

Looking closely at the object, Marinette could say that Ad was really in possession of a genuine royal brooch. She did have one for herself years ago...but that was a painful memory she did not want to rekindle at all.

"All brooches were the same for every woman working at the palace," Nino speaks up. "And you are, in fact, carrying a genuine one."

"I was also told that all servants are dead now, but I refuse to believe that." Ad puts the brooch back in his bag and looks at the both of them expectantly, "So should I push through in believing that you will assist me?"

Marinette then gets a brilliant idea the instant Ad sounded that he was pleading for their help. They have the man completely under their whim. Marinette smirks, "Not all servants are dead, you know. Right after the revolution, they were distributed to hide in different places in order for them to be safe. The czar and czarina loved all of them...very...much." She emphasizes even though what are coming from her mouth are utter bullshit. "Only one person knows where those who are still alive are hiding..."

"A-And who would that be?"

"Why the Czarina, herself!" Nino exclaims, finally catching up with Marinette's diabolical plan. Oh, he could not wait to get out and taste non-Russian air. "Czarina Emilie Agreste!"

"And where would she be?" Ad inquires more closely.

"Why in Paris, of course!" Nino answers.

"Paris! Isn't that a bit too far?" Ad asks, his voice laced with worry.

"Woah, are you planning to back out?" Marinette steps closer to Ad and intimidatingly looks at him in the eyes. "We're here to help but here you are backing out?"

"N-No!" Ad stammers, "That's not what I meant! I-"

"I cannot believe this!" Marinette cuts him off with such exasperation. "Just when we were about to help you without even going to ask for payment!" Marinette starts to pull Nino with her as they both start to walk away from Ad. Nino also puts on an act by sighing heavily and exaggerating a dejected look.

"No!" The young man rushes to their front. He stops them from going any further. "I'm sorry, okay? I...I should be thankful that I have officers, like you, to help me. But I am scared because I don't know what to do!"

"That is when we come into the picture. Nino and I will pay for the fare of the three of us to Paris!" Marinette declares confidently.

"We will?" Nino says incredulously, realizing too late that he asked the question out loud.

"We. Will." Marinette repeats while grinning and at the same time giving Nino a deadly glare.

"I mean, oh yes! We surely will!" Nino confirms with more gusto. "I was just messing around with Mari over here."

Marinette forces a laugh at Nino then turns back to Ad, "We will take you there and you will talk to the Czarina!"

"What?!" Ad utters in disbelief, "I don't think I can do that! I don't even know what to say!"

"That is why we will train you!" Marinette says, trying to coax the young man into pushing through with their plan. "For our whole duration of going to Paris, Nino and I will train you into becoming a person the czarina will look forward to helping!"

"Oh, and the czarina loves talking to...intellectual people," Nino adds. "You would have to be well-versed with everything about the lives of her family. From her relatives, to their pets, their hobbies - even their favorite colors!"

"So I have to memorize a whole lot of things just to find my mother?"

"Yes, just that," Marinette simply answers. "You find your mother, and we get promoted in our job. It's a win-win situation for both parties and you don't have to pay any amount for it! So...do we have a deal?" Marinette presents her hand for Ad to shake it if - when he agrees.

Ad takes it with his and firmly shakes it once, "We have a deal."

"Oh, sweet mother of Russia, this better pull off properly," Nino rushes in whispering only to be heard by the ears of Marinette.

"When do we start?" Ad asks after letting go of Marinette's hand.

"Why waste time when we can start now?"

------------

"Master..." A small bat-looking creature takes careful steps towards his master who had his head in his hands and was mumbling incoherent words. "Master Hawkmoth?"

"WHAT?" His so-called master turns to the creature and looks down at it with such fury in his eyes. "What in evil's sake is bothering you that you had to tell it to me too!"

The creature understood its master's temper. After all, it has been serving him for more than a decade and its master have been in this place that must be in between earth and a fiery place below it, and they do not know why, until now.

"I may have found out why you are still stuck here and not ruling Russia as to what you wanted a decade ago..." The creature spoke in a small voice.

"Go on, minion." Its master must have found a bit of his temper...and fixed it.

"I saw a man that looked exactly like the missing Prince Adrien at the palace when I was doing my rounds...perhaps he was not killed at all."

The creature braced itself if ever its master would start to trash the place out of rage, but after a while of silence the creature found it shocking. "Um, master? Should I do something?"

"BWAHAHAHAHA!" Its master then cackles loudly. His voice echoing throughout their endless void of a place. "The curse has not yet been completed! Oh, sweet glory! I can pull off this act of revenge better than what I did a decade ago!"

The creature found its master's reaction too absurd. "You're not...mad?" It asks carefully.

"Ecstatic would be the correct term to describe what I am feeling!" Its master answers before throwing his arms to the air, "Little Adrien, beware! Hawkmoth is awake!" Its masters proclaims out loud. "In the dark of the night, evil will find him. I can feel that my powers are slowly returning, minion! I will make sure that he will feel that his nightmares are real!"

With a swift movement of his hand, he summons a portal filled with moths that are twice the average size of one. Tens, hundreds, thousands fly out of the portal and fill up the whole area with Hawkmoth cackling loudly. "Come, my minions, rise for your master! Let your evil shine!" Master Hawkmoth forcefully points upward and all the moths follow suit and fly up the earth, "Find him now, yes, fly even faster!"

The bat-like creature flies to perch itself on its masters shoulder. It has done a job well done today for bringing back its master his purpose of being diabolically evil.

"Complete the curse," its master, Hawkmoth continues, "and in the dark of the night, let him be mine!"

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I am not hitting that one year mark again (LOL)
Hopefully you enjoyed this chapter!

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